Fifteen Flames
by SiuanSedai
Summary: 15 prompts, 15 unrelated stories involving fire and MoiraineLan. Enjoy. COMPLETE.
1. Prompt 3 Fuel

Find the void. That was what Rand al'Thor always said. Focus on the flame in the void. Nothing but the flame, nothing but the void. Moiraine tried to find saidar through the flame in the void, once, but she could feel nothing. To her, fire could never be a focus of concentration and calm; fire was a weapon, a lesser extension of balefire which could destroy the entire Pattern. Fire was a thing to be feared, respected, and twisted to one's own uses – not to meditate upon.

Her gaze shifted from staring at her book to Lan. His eyes flicked to hers for a moment before darting away again, all his effort going into hauling wood to the fire. Moiraine calmly watched him drag wood, his occupation disguising the royal blood flowing through his veins. Silent as rock, stoic as an Ogier, and sometimes as kingly as Artur Hawkwing, Lan was a fearsome Warder to have and she knew the Pattern had dealt her a lucky hand in allowing their paths to cross.

Moiraine could see Rand shivering slightly from the cold. He obviously tried to disguise it, but to an observant eye it was easy to read his body language. He leant close towards the fire, seemingly staring into it, lost in a trance. Moiraine hated the fact that he used fire as a way to hide all his problems – but she had to accept that all power needed fuel.


	2. Prompt 9 Trust Me

Prompt #9 - The time is now

The Two Rivers was an odd place, full of customs that seemed quaint and somewhat strange to the royal-born Moiraine Damodred. She couldn't deny that the villagers of Emond's Field had a real fire within them, though; most of them were far from the simple country people she'd expected to find.

"I suppose at least they're young," Moiraine murmured as she thought of the three young men she'd come for: Perrin Aybara, Mat Cauthon and Rand al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn. Lan looked up. "If they'd had many more years in this village, they'd be almost impossible to do anything with."

"I have to disagree with that," Lan said. Moiraine raised an eyebrow. "All three were enchanted by your beauty, I suspect they would still do whatever you asked of them." Moiraine blushed only slightly, used to such compliments from her faithful Warder but her vanity still applauding.

"Yes, if I told them to jump, I suppose I would receive a chorus of 'how high', but…" Moiraine trailed off. She stood up and began to pace back and forth, her silk-slippered feet making no noise on the stone floor. "I would be able to get them away from Emond's Field easily enough, although there is the al'Vere girl and the Wisdom to consider. But I have no doubt that the Dark One will soon send out an army of Trollocs and Halfmen to attack this place, if one is not already approaching. Then they will want to return here, to protect these village people while the fate of the world is balancing dangerously upon them."

Lan stood up and took Moiraine's hands, but instead of sitting her down and pacing back and forth in her stead as usual, he pulled her onto his lap, her legs curled up with his. Moiraine looked at him, somewhat surprised and a little disapproving of the unusual manhandling of her.

"Now, Moiraine Sedai, you listen to me for once," Lan said. Moiraine opened her mouth to snap at him, to remind him that he was the only one short of Siuan Sanche than she did listen to, but was silenced by a finger on her lips. A somewhat intimate touch, one never shared between the two.

"Stop worrying about what has been and what may be. As you so often tell me, the Wheel will weave as it will and we cannot change that fact. Have you not thought that seeing an army of Trollocs may well drive them away from here in a bid to save the villagers?" Moiraine moved her head back slightly so she could speak.

"Of course I considered that," she snapped. "I may be unfamiliar with country life, but I am not completely stupid. And how exactly do you propose I refrain from worrying whether or not the Dragon Reborn will abandon the world in favour of a few farmers and some fields?" Lan took her chin in his hand. Moiraine stared at him, wondering what the reason was for his sudden intimacy.

"Do you trust me, Moiraine?" he asked.

"Obviously," she retorted. "Do you really think I would make you my Warder if I didn't?"

"Then trust me on this: what will happen will happen," Lan said firmly. Moiraine closed her eyes momentarily; when she opened them her physical closeness to Lan hit her. She was pressed against him with his arms around her waist, and his face was just inches from hers. Her eyes scanned his face before settling on his lips, then dragging themselves back up to his eyes. His eyes which, she realised, held a sudden passion. Moiraine had never seen any such look in Lan's eyes before; some of her usual inner strength drained away into a similar passion, but also a fear of the unexpected.

"Trust me," Lan repeated, then his face was closer to hers and his lips were warm and soft and his hair was soft too as she ran her left hand through it as her right hand settled on the back of his neck, and – a scream and a crash, and they broke apart. Lan quickly moved her from his lap to the sofa and rushed to the window.

"Trollocs," he said. One word, and Moiraine felt the heat in her lips and her blood be replaced by cold determination that the creatures would not prevent the Dragon Reborn choosing the path that would save the world.

The moment had been broken, but as Moiraine stood up Lan swept over to her and kissed her hard, pulling her small body against his large on as she stood on her toes to kiss him back harder. They broke apart reluctantly, Moiraine reaching for the Power as Lan drew his sword. Then they were running out to the village proper, ready to defeat the Trollocs and hoping against all hope that this would be the Dragon Reborn's incentive to leave the Two Rivers. It was time for him to discover his destiny.


	3. Prompt 15 Destiny

Prompt #15 - Destiny

The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills. How many times had Moiraine told herself that? No matter how many times she warded her room and sat in front of the mirror repeating it over and over, she could never accept it.

Sometimes, she wanted to scream that it wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that to save Lan she would have to transfer their bond to Myrelle. She didn't want him to be bonded to the Green sister. Selfishly, she wanted him all to herself, even to the extent of letting him follow her into death. But Moiraine Sedai was a strong woman. She would not allow herself that satisfaction.

It wasn't as if she could morally do that anyway, in all fairness. She held his bond, but not his heart. Nynaeve was the lucky woman Lan had chosen to fall in love with. Moiraine couldn't stop the resentment towards the younger woman building, not when she could feel Lan's affection for Nynaeve through their bond ever time he set eyes upon the village Wisdom turned Aes Sedai.

What did Nynaeve have that she didn't, Moiraine wondered. Not beauty – Nynaeve was pretty, but Moiraine was beautiful. She doubted power was the reason, either, not least because Nynaeve could only channel when angry, an emotion in complete opposition to Lan's stoic calm.

"Should I choose a man, it will not be Lan," Moiraine had said. Nynaeve had taken it to mean she had no romantic feelings for Lan, but that was a misinterpretation of Moiraine's words. If good fortune smiled upon her, as it had once been wont to do, Lan would choose her. Moiraine's heart already burned with fire and passion for the Warder; it had already chosen.


	4. Prompt 6 ABC 123

Prompt #6 abc 123

Teaching Rand al'Thor to use his heron-mark sword was like teaching a child to count, Lan thought frustratedly. Every time he managed to drill something into the country lad's head, something else was forgotten and it was back to square one.

"Does he really think that the Dark One will wait to have him killed until he's gained enough mastery of a blade to make it a fair fight?" Lan asked in frustration.

"Maybe you should threaten him with the Amyrlin," Moiraine had suggested, half-amused at the pains her Warder was going through to teach Rand how to defend himself. "I am sure that his plans for running far away would include learning to defend himself against any who follow him to bring him back."

"Like you did when you found out she was cheating on you with that Green sister?" Lan asked, unsure himself why he was using a painful moment of Moiraine's past to defend Rand al'Thor. Moiraine's eyes flashed angrily and she stiffened.

"Have you been sleeping with him, then?" she asked coolly. "You certainly defend him as a lover would." Lan's hands clenched and unclenched. He knew it was true. But he knew he would never make his fantasies of the younger man a reality, and Moiraine knew it too.

"Please excuse me," he said coldly and left. He hated that he and Moiraine had slipped into the habit of using each other's secrets to hurt one another. They hadn't done that before they came to the Two Rivers, not until they met Rand al'Thor.

"Is Moiraine getting to you?" a female voice asked. Lan spun around. Nynaeve stood a few feet away; he wondered how she'd got so close without him realising. 'Because you were busy fantasising about Rand,' his voice told him. "She's been getting to Rand too," Nynaeve commented, her disdain for the Aes Sedai clear in her voice.

"Do you know where he is?" Lan asked. Nynaeve nodded and opened her mouth to tell him. "Would you mind going and telling him to come here immediately?" Nynaeve tugged her braid sharply, a sure sign she was angered at being treated like a maid, but departed anyway.

Lan sighed and resisted the urge to bang his head against the wall. Moiraine, Rand and Nynaeve amounted to a massive headache, especially when he thought about them at the same time. "Burn them all," he muttered.


	5. Prompt 12 Mama Said

Prompt #12 - Mama said

"Aes Sedai marry as seldom as Wisdoms," Moiraine heard Lan say in a gentle voice that cut her to the bone. She strained her ears, trying to hear more of the words she knew she wasn't meant to hear. "No woman deserves the sure knowledge of widow's black as her brideprice, you least of all."

Moiraine closed her eyes against the tears that threatened to spill. She could hear Nynaeve suppressing the same sobs.

After a while, Nynaeve's breathing evened out and slowed, and Moiraine decided she was asleep. She sat up, careful not to move so far away from Rand that his dreams would no longer be shielded from Ba'alzamon, and focused on saidar.

Ever since childhood, Moiraine had played with fire created using the Power. Whether she was happy, sad, angry or scared, every time she felt strong emotion she would create some form of flame. When she was happy it would simply be a circular stream of fire, or maybe if she was feeling playful it would be several different-coloured fireballs that she could try to juggle with without injury. When she was angry the fireballs would fight, trying to jostle each other out of the air. This time it formed as black balls of liquid fire.

Moiraine watched the fireballs as they appeared in the air. Intended fireballs; they quickly dissolved into a maelstrom of whirling darkness.

Bloody Lan, she thought bitterly. Al'Lan Mandragoran, uncrowned king of Malkier. His mother and father had taken an oath for him when he was still a baby that he would protect his people, so he spent his life trying to give it up to uphold that oath.

Moiraine wished Lan's mother had been someone else. Anyone other than Malkier's queen. Then he wouldn't have learnt to use his oath as an excuse to stay away from romantic commitment.

How many times had she heard him use the same line, now? Three? Four? Five, including her. The painful part was that she knew he'd honestly loved all of them – loved her, loved the others, loved Nynaeve. She wished he didn't. It would have been bearable to know that he loved her, and only her forever – although that was romantic nonsense – even though he was too obsessed over his mother's oath to let himself get close to her. But watching him move on and inspire the same hope in other women… she knew she didn't mean it even while she thought it, but sometimes Moiraine told herself she wished she'd never met al'Lan Mandragoran.


	6. Prompt 1 Just Walking By

Prompt #1 - Just Walking By

Rand paced around the camp, ignoring the men who tried to report to him. He glowered at the tent where Moiraine slept, no doubt dreaming sweet dreams of manipulations and Tar Valon plots. He was restless from spending the winter hiding out in a camp, frustrated from knowing Moiraine was right and angry because she always got her way. Without realising, Rand's long circuits of the camp had shortened to a few paces each way outside Moiraine's tent.

A piercing scream tore him from his thoughts. He looked around, expecting to see Min pointing at a Fade in the trees, but Lan shoved him aside as he rushed into Moiraine's tent. Rand followed him in, bemused and curious. Moiraine didn't scream. She wasn't the sort of woman to panic over a mouse, or a big moth.

By the time Rand got to where he could see behind the divide where Moiraine slept, Lan had shaken her into consciousness. Rand stared as the powerful, commanding woman clutched onto the warder's shoulders, crying and speaking at the same time so that it was impossible to understand her words.

"He… Dark One… fire… you…" Moiraine sobbed. Lan rubbed circles on her back as one would do to a child, and in a few moments she had calmed enough for more of her words to be distinguishable.

"He… the Dark One… he had eyes… pouring fire… he… hurt you…" Moiraine mumbled.

"It was just a dream," Lan comforted her. "He's not here, and I'm fine." Moiraine visibly held her breath for a moment then exhaled slowly, relaxing her muscles one by one. She let go of Lan's shoulders.

"I am sorry, gaidin," she said, embarrassment showing clearly on her pale face. "I apologise."

"Nonsense," Lan chided her gently. He brushed a stray dark curl from her face. "In these times anyone can expect their fair share of nightmares. Even you. Now, you lie down and get yourself a few more hours sleep." Moiraine shook her head.

"I would rather not," she said, her voice less decisive than usual.

"Do you want me to stay with you?" Lan asked. Moiraine nodded and moved over wordlessly; Lan slipped under the blanket and made sure she was tucked in before wrapping his arms around her. Moiraine burrowed her head into the crook of his neck, curling close.

Rand backed away, an intruder on a private moment that he knew they wouldn't want to know he'd seen. He sincerely wished he hadn't been anywhere near Moiraine's tent when she screamed. Next time he had to pace, he wouldn't be walking by here, that was for sure.

* * *

Yes, I know that was OOC. But I wrote it anyway ;-)


	7. Prompt 4 Give me what I desire

Prompt 4 - Give me what I desire

* * *

The dying embers of the fire flickered slowly. Moiraine stared into the last flickering flames, unseeing and buried deep in thought. 

Occasionally she would bite her lip as a thought came over her, then her face would straighten out again. Her expression was far from its usual blank state, though. Lan wondered what she was worried about; she didn't usually let anyone, even him, see her anxiety.

The common room of the inn in Baerlon emptied as the evening drew on, but Moiraine stayed staring into the fireplace long after the last flickering glow died away. The innkeeper approached, once, but Lan waved him away with a stony look that told the fat man that Moiraine – or Alys, as the innkeeper knew her – was not to be disturbed.

It must have been an hour past midnight when Moiraine finally looked up.

"What troubles you?" Lan asked. Moiraine shook her head, biting her lip for a moment before she schooled her face calm.

"I need a glass of wine," she said calmly. Lan pushed the half-empty bottle across the table to her along with a glass; she daintily poured herself a large glass of the red wine and sat sipping it.

Once she finished, she returned to staring into space. Then half an hour later, after a multitude of expressions had passed over her face and Lan thought she must have bitten her lip nearly into extinction, she stood up.

"I am going to bed," she informed him. Lan nodded and stood up himself, following her up the stairs to where he would guard the room while she slept.

When they reached Moiraine's room, she looked at Lan, again with that strange expression in her eyes.

"Lan…" she murmured.

"Yes?" he prompted when she trailed off, lost in thought again. Moiraine sighed and led him into the room.

"Everything is going to change tomorrow, isn't it," she said softly. "I've found out where the Dragon Reborn is, and tomorrow we go to take him away from his farm. I suppose it's the beginning of the end." Lan said nothing. Moiraine was outwardly philosophical infrequently, and when she was she never liked to be interrupted.

"Maybe the world will be saved. Maybe it won't. Maybe neither you nor I will live long enough to see what happens," Moiraine murmured, almost to herself.

"Don't say that," Lan objected. "You are _not_ going to die. I won't let you." Moiraine looked back at him and smiled slightly.

"I'm glad of that," she replied. "But… however many plans I make, there may always be an unexpected element, one that could destroy everything." She looked pensive; suddenly she stepped close to Lan and wrapped her arms tight around him, resting her head on his shoulder. Lan embraced her gently, resting his head atop his. If anyone had looked into the room, they would have seen an intimate embrace between lovers, but they would have been wrong.

"Lan…" Moiraine said suddenly, raising her head. Lan saw the barriers she set up in her mind against any and all external emotion vanish, and for the first time he could truly look into her eyes and see what lay behind.

"What is it?" he asked. Moiraine looked at him consideringly for a moment, then stood on her toes and kissed him. Lan was shocked, but kissed her back anyway – until he remembered that she frowned upon amorous intimacy between Aes Sedai and their Warders. He drew back, expecting Moiraine to glare at him – although she had kissed him, not the other way round – but he wasn't fixed with a glare. She looked almost hurt, certainly confused; he expected that no man had ever pulled away from her before. He certainly didn't want to.

Moiraine looked questioningly at him. Lan shifted, uncomfortable under her intense gaze.

"What do you want, Moiraine?" he asked eventually. "You don't approve…" Moiraine sighed.

"No, not normally… but who knows what will happen when we reach the Two Rivers? The future is so uncertain…" she trailed off, then looked back into his eyes with renewed strength. "Lan, I want this, I want you," she said quietly, then waited for him to speak. An oddly submissive gesture from a usually dominant woman.

"Are you sure?" Lan asked. Moiraine nodded. Then the submissiveness faded away and she pulled his head down to hers, kissing him passionately.

"I assume that answers your question," she told him when they broke apart for air. Lan nodded and kissed her again.


	8. Prompt 5 It's Wrong

You know that 'I love you so much that I'd rather spend my life killing Trollocs than marry you' conversation that Nynaeve and Lan have at the end of the Eye of the World? Pretend it never happened.

Prompt #5 - It's Wrong

"Why do you hate her so much?" Elayne asked. Nynaeve tried to silence her with a stormy glare but it fell rather flat; the Daughter-Heir of Andor had grown up watching her mother deal out much worse looks and Elayne had practised the art on guards she disliked from an early age.

"I just despise everything she stands for," Nynaeve said stiffly. "She manipulates us and the boys in some White Tower plot; we have no idea what her motives are and she thinks she's so wonderful, the high and mighty Aes Sedai!" Nynaeve's voice had become louder and shriller as she spoke, and Elayne looked surreptitiously over at Moiraine, but the woman didn't seem to have heard. "I bet she imagines herself to be noble born, not just raised to that when she became Aes Sedai," Nynaeve finished scornfully.

"Actually she is," Elayne told her. "She's an aunt of mine a couple of times removed, her father was Taringail." Nynaeve looked over at Moiraine, then back at Elayne. She couldn't see Moiraine as ever acting in a very aunt-ish way, nor was there any great resemblance between the two women.

Nynaeve's fit of fury subsided, her bubble of rage burst for the moment, although the residual anger still remained. She became silent, watching Moiraine and Lan talk. Elayne saw her stiffen when the Aes Sedai put a hand on Lan's arm, and wondered.

It was obvious to Elayne that Moiraine and the Warder were in love. Their eyes always searched each other out in a crowded room before anyone else; their words were softer than she'd heard them say to anyone else, particularly in Lan's case; and they often shared gentle touches that seemed to veil a hidden intimacy. Elayne didn't know if they had ever acted on their feelings or if they even realised that the feelings were there, but she was sure they weren't crushing on one another from afar. She couldn't picture Moiraine as a giggly teenager chasing after boys, and she certainly couldn't envision the adult version acting lovestruck.

"So that's why you hate her so," Elayne said aloud. Nynaeve stared at her; Elayne realised she must have been silently watching Moiraine and Lan for the best part of five minutes with a goofy 'aren't they cute together' grin on her face.

"Why?" Nynaeve asked sharply.

"She has Lan, and you want him," Elayne said. Nynaeve turned red, whether from a blush or from anger Elayne wasn't sure until the Wisdom opened her mouth.

"Who even says he bonded to her willingly?" Nynaeve hissed.

"How can you accuse her of something like that? I know you're jealous, but that's not right," Elayne snapped back. She wasn't close to Moiraine and in all honesty she sometimes feared the woman's power, but she would not allow such things to be said of a family member simply from envy.

"Prove to me that it isn't true," Nynaeve challenged.

"Fine," Elayne snapped. "You've heard him talk to her, in that low voice he addresses no-one else with. You've seen the way they look at each other when they think nobody is watching; even the most oblivious fool could figure out something more than Aes Sedai-Warder was going on. And you must have noticed the touches – see?" she pointed over at where Lan was holding Moiraine's cold hands in his to warm them. Nynaeve had been getting angrier and angrier as the facts were pointed out to her and she could no longer deny them. Elayne saw the glow of saidar surround her as she lost her temper and a moment later Moiraine's silk dress was on fire, flames licking their way through the material.

Moiraine screamed and jumped to her feet. She channelled the Power, somewhat suppressing the flames created by Nynaeve's stronger, if more unreliable ability to channel. The flames were put out after a few more seconds, but Moiraine's dress was burnt and tattered, and Nynaeve realised in horror that she had burns covering her legs and body. She reached for the bag of herbs she always carried with her, but Lan's cold glare of fury froze her in place as he helped the charred Aes Sedai out of the room.

"Light, Nynaeve, what possessed you to do that?" Elayne whispered. Nynaeve shook her head and sat down heavily.

"I didn't mean to – that was all wrong, I didn't want that to happen… but light, Elayne, them together? It's just all wrong," Nynaeve muttered, tugging on her braid until Elayne was sure it would tear right out of her head.

Elayne sat silently, scrapping her plans of talking sense into the Wisdom. Talks about what was right and what was wrong and what Nynaeve had any right to meddle in could wait until they visited a stedding, where she wouldn't be able to channel.

* * *

I don't like Nynaeve very much. You might have noticed from this one ;-) 


	9. Prompt 7 Accelerate

**Prompt #7 - Accelerate**

They had been staying at the inn of a small village when the Trollocs struck. They'd both wondered how the village had survived the Borderlands for so long; most people grouped together in towns and even cities to defend themselves against the attacking Trollocs and Myrddraal. The village people hadn't been untouched by the nature of the Borderlands; they'd been quiet and cowed by the harsh land, but Moiraine had ascertained through careful questioning that the village had never been attacked.

Moiraine had offered to ward the village against the Dark One's creatures, but the mayor and the council quickly declined. Use of the Power would draw the Trollocs' attention as quickly as walking straight into a camp of the foul creatures. Moiraine knew it was true; it was the reason she'd offered – she'd used the Power near to the village to wash away the horses' tiredness, too close for comfort.

All Moiraine and Lan could do was hope that the Trollocs hadn't noticed. They stayed at the village for three nights, sheltered in the house of the mayor, before the Trollocs struck. Lan slew as many as he could and the villagers did too – living in the Borderlands, all children were taught to defend themselves as soon as they were big enough to be able to swing a sword – but Moiraine avoided the central fight. The Trollocs were unusually coordinated in their attack, which meant there had to be two or three or maybe even four Myrddraal present, lurking in the shadow.

She observed the scene carefully, taking note of the way the Trollocs tilted their heads before striking down a villager. She could have used the Power to blast the things into pieces, but that would have meant drawing the attention of the Myrddraal. So she watched and waited until she'd read enough of the Trollocs' body language to ascertain the location of two Myrddraal.

She didn't see the third one until it was too late. The first two writhed on the ground, struck down by balefire – Moiraine had decided that none of the villagers would notice the difference between the fire burning the Fades right out of the Pattern and the fire raging through the village, and balefire did the job much more efficiently, if in a more dangerous way – but the third one sprung out of the shadow that concealed it and struck.

Nearby, Lan felt a shock through his bond with Moiraine and ran to where she lay unconscious on the ground, the Myrddraal standing above her with its sword raised in preparation to strike a killing blow. The cloaked Fade never stood a chance when Lan hurled his sword at it.

Myrddraal didn't die easily, but this one was weak and stopped moving within a minute, by which time Lan had already fashioned a crude bandage around the wound in Moiraine's side and lifted her onto his horse. He paused on his wild ride out of the village only to throw a handful of gold at the mayor in repayment and apology before he spurred the horse on once more.

"Come on," Lan growled when the horse began to flag. He'd ridden it fast, non-stop, and it was beginning to protest without Moiraine's command of saidar to energise it. "Just a little further… come on…"

An hour later, the horse had succumbed to its exhaustion and gone to meet its maker. Lan cursed the beast for dying of exhaustion less than two miles before it reached the town ahead, where he could have bought or taken a horse as yet energetic, but he could do nothing but pick Moiraine up and run as fast as he could towards the village.

Lan breathed out in relief when he saw an Aes Sedai in the town. He didn't know her by name, but he vaguely recognised her as being a Brown sister from Tar Valon. As it turned out, she was unskilled in healing, but she was able enough to cleanse Lan of tiredness. He'd barely finished thanking her when he was running again, taking a strong-looking horse from the stable and throwing enough gold to cover the price into the stall and riding out towards Tar Valon.

Lan could see Tar Valon in the distance now. Moiraine's face had paled and her breathing was shallower; Lan spurred the horse on faster and hoped to hell he'd get her there in time. "Hurry up," he begged the horse, his pleading words contrasting with the firm hand he used in spurring the horse on to faster speeds.

Moiraine didn't wake for three full days after the Aes Sedai in Tar Valon healed her. On the third day, the Amyrlin Seat made the visit that was customary to any ill Aes Sedai. When she reached out and felt Moiraine's forehead, Lan remembered that the two women were close friends – the Amyrlin's necessary distance made it easy to forget.

"Blood and ashes, will you stop pacing?" the Amyrlin hissed crossly after a few moments. "It's not going to make her wake up any faster. I'm well aware you love her, but all that pacing is just going to wear a hole in the floor!"

"How – how did you – "Lan asked. Not even Moiraine had guessed his secret, and she was the only one able to read his stone face.

"No Warder trained to take care of horses like you were runs one to death to get the Aes Sedai they're bonded to here. Not when they should know full well that that wound wouldn't have killed her for a good six days yet," the Amyrlin said. "You just saw the woman you love wounded and panicked, and you are not a man who panics often."

"Lan?" Both Lan and the Amyrlin turned towards the bed. Moiraine looked up at them, her gaze clear even though her voice was thick from sleep.

"How are you feeling?" Lan asked. He hoped she hadn't heard his conversation with the Amyrlin.

"Fine, I hope I'm allowed to get up," she said. Lan smiled slightly. She'd never liked staying in bed; she considered it a waste of time.

"Not a chance," he said firmly. "Not until you're allowed by one of your sisters." Moiraine scowled.

"Siuan…" she started. Siuan glared at her.

"Don't ask me!" she said, holding her hands up in front of her. "I'm no healer. And now that you're awake, I have to go." The Amyrlin swept out of the room.

Moiraine held her hand out to Lan. Lan walked towards her, but didn't take her hand. He wasn't going to be caught aiding her getting up.

"If I'm not allowed to get out of this bed, you aren't either, gaidin," Moiraine told him decisively. Lan sighed and sat down. He was sure she'd heard him talking to the Amyrlin, and he was also sure that she was prepared to mess with his heart as she had done with so many other men. With Moiraine there was no forever-type love. She was happy to indulge in a relationship while it suited her, but as soon as something came up she was gone with not a word of explanation.

He knew she'd break off any intimacy between them whenever she felt that there was something more important, something more important than his heart. But he still sat down beside her.


	10. Prompt 8 Best Part of Waking Up

**Prompt: Best Part of Waking Up.**

Yeah, it's just pointlessly out of character fluff P.

* * *

Lan woke up to the sound of his ego applauding. He stretched, catlike, before reaching out to drape a muscled arm over the dark-haired female presence he knew would be there.

She wasn't. Lan made an indistinct noise of protest and opened his eyes, shielding them from the light streaming in through the window. He smiled languidly as he saw Moiraine standing near the window looking out, still gloriously naked. She had conjured several small fireballs and was watching them juggle themselves with a childish delight. Moiraine had taught herself to control her channelling as a small child using an angreal to do this, and Lan knew she often juggled the burning fireballs when she was happy.

"Morning," he said. Moiraine turned towards him, the fireballs vanishing as her concentration slipped.

"Good morning," she said. Lan shook his head.

"No, just morning," he said. Moiraine looked offended. "How can it be a good morning when I woke up on my own?" Moiraine smiled and slipped back beneath the sheet. Lan pulled her close to him.

"We really must rectify that," Moiraine said. "Close your eyes." Her breath was hot against his ear as she spoke quietly. Lan closed his eyes and waited. He wasn't disappointed. A moment later, Moiraine's lips descended onto his in a passionate kiss.

"This is a much better way to wake up," Lan said when she drew back slightly.

"Less talking, more waking," Moiraine muttered and kissed him again.


	11. Prompt 10 One Last Time

**Prompt #10 - One Last Time**

Moiraine knew she was going to die. She knew that to defeat Lanfear she would have to pass from this world, leaving all earthly troubles behind her. She knew that this would be her last night alive.

So she called Lan to her while the others sat around the fire. She knew that it wasn't right, what she was about to do, but in all honesty she didn't care.

"I know you love Nynaeve," she told him, acknowledging the fact. Then she kissed him, pulling his head down to hers with one delicate, pale hand.

When she drew back, Lan stared at her in open surprise. She had never hinted she was interested in him in that way. Moiraine smiled at him, a true smile that left her eyes open for him to read all that lay written in them, and caressed his cheek. Her eyes fluttered closed as she kissed him again, this time gently. This time Lan kissed back.

Words weren't needed. But when they drew back, dishevelled and thoroughly kissed, Moiraine smiled once more and spoke.

"One last time. For keepsakes," she whispered, and placed a soft, chaste kiss on his lips.


	12. Prompt 14 Why Won't You?

**Prompt 14 - Why Won't You?**

"Moiraine is back!" Rand called, and Lan sprung up from where he'd been sitting punching his hand into the rocky ground. Moiraine was staggering up towards them, exhausted from her ordeal at Rhuidean and the long walk back under the hot sun. Lan rushed down to meet her, sweeping her up carefully to try and avoid causing her too much pain. However gentle he was, though, Moiraine still whimpered with every movement as his clothes chafed her burnt skin. She was so red that if her skin had tanned just a slight bit before it burned, she would have appeared charred, and Lan wondered what had happened inside the Aiel city. He wondered what Moiraine had gone through, and he wondered if the sun was all that had burnt her.

Moiraine murmured something and passed out, her head lolling against Lan's shoulder. Lan ran faster, knowing that the hot sun burning his face must be causing her agony as it beat down upon her naked body.

Lan passed Moiraine over to the Wise Ones, then made to follow them into the tent, intent on remaining by Moiraine's side. But Melaine forced him to stay outside, and Lan protested with vigour.

"Why won't you let me in, woman?" Lan asked angrily.

"You would get in the way," Melaine told him and returned inside. Lan paced back and forth, not caring that the sun was burning his hands and face.

It was dark when Moiraine finally followed Melaine out of the tent. She wore a troubled, distant look; Lan wondered again what she'd gone through at Rhuidean.

"Are you alright?" he asked, not entirely trusting in the healing skills of the Wise Ones. Moiraine turned to him and nodded, placing a reassuring hand on his arm.

"I am fine, if a little sunburnt," she told him.

"A little?" Lan asked; Moiraine wasn't usually given to such understatements. She shrugged.

"I must go," she said. Lan nodded and stepped aside, but not until he'd felt her forehead to check for fever. A brief look of irritation passed over her face at being coddled in such a way, but all the same Lan didn't let her go until he was completely satisfied she wasn't suffering from too bad a sunstroke. He watched her leave with no small amount of regret, cursing the harshness of the Aiel and their Waste, and wishing that for once Moiraine would let herself rest instead of pushing herself to and past her limits in order to continue her plans. But, he thought, she wouldn't be Moiraine if she did.

* * *

I'm hoping this was somewhat in character, as some of my characterisations have been pretty dodgy. Thanks for the reviews, they've been really helpful :-)


	13. Prompt 11 Stars

Moiraine wasn't a woman given to romance. Lan knew that if he made some beautiful gesture of his love and adoration she'd appreciate it because it was him and she'd know he meant it, but she wouldn't truly feel it. He longed to discover her weak spot. She had to have one; she may have been Moiraine and an Aes Sedai, but she was still a woman.

Lan analysed her every word for weeks, trying to find out what sort of romance appealed to her. She wasn't a great lover of poetry or art, nor would she appreciate him standing drunk outside her window singing in the middle of the night. Then, one night when they were travelling to Caemlyn and couldn't reach an inn before all the rooms were gone, Moiraine told him herself.

Lan had called her out from the tent he'd put up, wanting to ask her some trivial question. The words had died in his mouth as Moiraine stared up at the dark sky, then spun around and around with her arms held out like a little girl. "I love the stars," she'd said dreamily. "I was never allowed to sleep outside as a little girl, but I've always loved them." She had a peaceful, euphoric look on her face; Lan had wordlessly gone and fetched her bedroll and placed it next to his. They'd lain there in silence, Lan watching out for danger while Moiraine watched the stars, and Lan had thought she'd fallen asleep when she spoke. "I always thought it would be terribly romantic to make love beneath the stars," she'd said, then laughed softly. "Do you think that's silly?"

"Not silly at all, no," Lan had replied, his mouth slightly dry. Moiraine had rolled over to her side, he could see the fire in her eyes contrasting with the delicate sparkle of the stars reflected in the dark orbs; he pulled her closer and kissed her gently.

The next morning, Moiraine was back to being as practical as ever. Lan thought wryly that all he'd have to do next time he wanted to see her softer side was take her outside on a clear night.

* * *

Everyone has _something_ that makes them go soppy. Even Moiraine. Hope you enjoyed :-)


	14. Prompt 13 Profanity

**Prompt #13 - Profanity**

"Moiraine, use the Power!" Lan shouted over the noise of sword clashing against sword. The Myrddraal was powerful and he was still weak from the last one they encountered; he knew he wouldn't have much success at defeating it. Moiraine shook her head. She was already exhausted, her control of saidar was uncertain at best, and she was afraid.

"I can't," she cried, the Myrddraal's icy, eyeless stare freezing her to the spot. "I just can't!"

"Burn me, Moiraine, use bloody balefire if you have to!" Lan yelled. Moiraine almost dropped her daggers. She hadn't told him she knew the secret of balefire. "Just do it!"

Moiraine closed her eyes, gritted her teeth, and reached out for saidar. The Myrddraal's presence hindered her, a distraction almost too great for the newly qualified Aes Sedai, but somehow she managed to tap into her link to the Power.

Lightning quick liquid fire flashed out of the sky and struck the Myrddraal. Its dark cloak vanished, unravelled from the Pattern, and the Fade screamed in anger. Moiraine bit down on her lip, hard, and threw one last stream of balefire towards the creature. It lit up momentarily, illuminated against the sky, then vanished, burnt out of existence.

"Is it gone?" Moiraine asked in a voice much higher pitched than normal. Lan looked at her sharply and only just made it to her side in time to catch her when her legs gave way.

"Are you injured?" she asked. Lan shook his head – the wound wouldn't kill him, not before she would be recovered enough to heal him without harming herself – but she still ran her hands over his arms, face and chest searching out injury. "You are hurt," she said reproachfully, and before Lan could stop her she had reached out for saidar and the Power knit the wound back together. Moiraine blinked when she was finished, and slumped in his arms as she passed out.

The Aes Sedai came to a few minutes later, and watched amusedly through half-open eyes as Lan carefully wrung out a wet cloth before placing it on her forehead. He noticed a few moments later that she was awake and watching him, and ceased his actions.

"You fool," he chastised her sharply. "Never wear yourself out like that trying to heal me again! You could have channelled too much and burnt yourself out, you could have killed yourself, you could have lost control and done untold damage…" Moiraine let him shout, understanding that he was only doing so out of worry for her. When he finished shouting, Lan looked at her somewhat ruefully, an expression that seemed out of place on the face of the lost Malkieri king. "I'll go to the Spine of the bloody World if you want or need me to, but for Light's sake don't return the damn failure, Light burn me!"

"Language," Moiraine snapped. She would not be spoken to in such a way, not even by Lan. Lan glared at her but subsided, pondering his words. It was true he'd do absolutely anything to save her, even tell her to use balefire, a skill that could destroy the entire Pattern if used in excess. But why? He had a feeling he felt certain things towards Moiraine, a Blue sister, that were more common between Warders and the Aes Sedai of the Green Ajah.

Moiraine hid her surprise at Lan's words well behind her usual calm mask. She suddenly felt like a novice again, giggling with her friends over this man or that man, friends who later became Green. Maybe she'd joined the wrong Ajah… that was ridiculous, romantic talk, she told herself scornfully. Then realised she'd used the word romantic in relation to Lan. The noble-born, usually composed Aes Sedai let out a curse that would have made a sailor proud.

Lan looked down at her. Moiraine realised her heart was beating faster under the intensity of his stare, and she found herself imagining how his lips would feel.

"Language," he told her, half-smiling. Moiraine decided she'd rather slap him than kiss him.

* * *

And that's the end. I know I said fifteen chapters, but Darkest Delight got posted seperately because of its rating. Thank you so much for the reviews hugs and I hope you enjoyed reading these! I certainly enjoyed writing them:-)


End file.
